TEHRAN, July 03 (V7N): Top Iranian officials and international dignitaries gathered in the capital to pay their final respects to the country’s slain Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. The ceremony marks the beginning of a week-long series of funeral processions, with millions of mourners expected to converge on Tehran while his body lies in state at the Grand Mosalla religious complex.

The high-profile event comes four months after Khamenei was killed at the age of 86 during initial US-Israeli military strikes. State television broadcast footage of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf standing by the coffin, which was draped in the national flag alongside the casket of Khamenei's three-year-old granddaughter who died in the same attack.

A powerful contingent of foreign allies and regional mediators also arrived to pay respects, highlighting Iran's geopolitical ties. Notable attendees included Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, and the Taliban government's foreign minister, alongside high-level delegations representing Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.

In anticipation of the massive crowds, the Iranian government has placed security forces on high alert and declared public holidays. Public and private offices across Tehran have been ordered to close from Saturday through Monday, and hundreds of emergency relief tents have been erected throughout the city’s major parks to accommodate incoming visitors.

Major traffic and logistics restrictions are being enforced to secure the procession routes along Azadi Avenue. The airspace over Tehran has been partially closed and will face a complete shutdown on Monday, while municipal workers prepare the streets by removing barricades and stationing water tankers to cool down the massive crowds of participants.

Following the three-day lying-in-state period in Tehran, Khamenei’s body will be transported to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala for religious ceremonies. The week of mourning will conclude on July 9, when the late leader will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in his northeastern birthplace of Mashhad.

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